Post by mpmotorsports on Apr 18, 2013 8:35:41 GMT -6
For Immediate Release
Head Restraints Needed for Sportsman Drag Racers?
Atlanta, Georgia, Apr. 17, 2013 – As the NHRA prepares to conduct the Four-Wide Nationals in Charlotte, a major safety question looms. Should Head and Neck Restraints be used in all the Sportsman classes of drag racing?
A dramatic answer to that question emerged from the SummitRacing.com Nationals two weekends ago in Las Vegas. Scott Hedlund, a Comp Eliminator driver, walked away from a 160 mph crash that nearly destroyed his Chevy Cobalt. He was wearing a HANS Device.
In a sad contrast, Derek Sanchez hit the wall at the same Las Vegas Motor Speedway track in his ’33 Ford and suffered a head injury. The 47-year-old Yuma, Ariz. driver died in a Las Vegas area hospital several days later after never regaining consciousness. A family member said the Super Gas driver had suffered a basal skull fracture – the kind of injury a SFI Certified Head and Neck Restraint is designed to prevent. Sanchez was not wearing one.
"We hope all competitors in Charlotte this weekend will choose to use a Head and Neck Restraint," said Jim Downing, president of HANS Performance Products. "Sled tests have proven that a sudden stop of 42 miles per hour within milliseconds is enough to result in a fatal injury. It's hard to predict when a racer might need a Head Restraint. But when the need occurs, a Head Restraint makes a big difference for drivers and their families."
A corrugated box salesman from Anaheim Hills, Calif., Hedlund was back at work following his accident and contemplating repairs to his Chevy Cobalt that will allow him to return to drag racing later this summer. “I truly believe the HANS Device saved my life by saving my neck and head,” said Hedlund, whose car abruptly turned left at the finish line.
“I went in at a diagonal angle and I was conscious the whole time,” he continued. “Everything went into super slow-mo. I remember my head being pushed forward. I could feel the HANS stopping my head from going forward.”
The NHRA requires racers who clock 7.49 seconds or better in the quarter mile to wear a Head Restraint certified under SFI’s 38.1 specification. Neither Sanchez nor Hedlund’s cars were fast enough to require the drivers to wear one. In Charlotte this weekend, four of the classes competing are not required to use a Head and Neck Restraint.
“If you’re above 7.49 seconds, it’s your choice whether to wear a Head Restraint, which I don’t agree with,” said Hedlund. “I’ve always been one who believes everybody should wear one.”
At the IMIS Safety and Technical Conference in December of 2012, Downing presented a study based on the Charlotte Observer’s report “Death at the Track.” The HPP study found that 10 drag racing deaths could have been prevented by the use of SFI Certified Head and Neck Restraints in the years covered by the Observer’s study -- 2001 to 2011. The majority of those drag racing deaths occurred in the Sportsman classes.
The HPP study and the summary of preventable deaths are available at hansdevice.com/s.nl/sc.12/category.60/.f .
Mike Poupart Motorsports
504-472-0400
mikepoupartmotorsports.com/
Head Restraints Needed for Sportsman Drag Racers?
Atlanta, Georgia, Apr. 17, 2013 – As the NHRA prepares to conduct the Four-Wide Nationals in Charlotte, a major safety question looms. Should Head and Neck Restraints be used in all the Sportsman classes of drag racing?
A dramatic answer to that question emerged from the SummitRacing.com Nationals two weekends ago in Las Vegas. Scott Hedlund, a Comp Eliminator driver, walked away from a 160 mph crash that nearly destroyed his Chevy Cobalt. He was wearing a HANS Device.
In a sad contrast, Derek Sanchez hit the wall at the same Las Vegas Motor Speedway track in his ’33 Ford and suffered a head injury. The 47-year-old Yuma, Ariz. driver died in a Las Vegas area hospital several days later after never regaining consciousness. A family member said the Super Gas driver had suffered a basal skull fracture – the kind of injury a SFI Certified Head and Neck Restraint is designed to prevent. Sanchez was not wearing one.
"We hope all competitors in Charlotte this weekend will choose to use a Head and Neck Restraint," said Jim Downing, president of HANS Performance Products. "Sled tests have proven that a sudden stop of 42 miles per hour within milliseconds is enough to result in a fatal injury. It's hard to predict when a racer might need a Head Restraint. But when the need occurs, a Head Restraint makes a big difference for drivers and their families."
A corrugated box salesman from Anaheim Hills, Calif., Hedlund was back at work following his accident and contemplating repairs to his Chevy Cobalt that will allow him to return to drag racing later this summer. “I truly believe the HANS Device saved my life by saving my neck and head,” said Hedlund, whose car abruptly turned left at the finish line.
“I went in at a diagonal angle and I was conscious the whole time,” he continued. “Everything went into super slow-mo. I remember my head being pushed forward. I could feel the HANS stopping my head from going forward.”
The NHRA requires racers who clock 7.49 seconds or better in the quarter mile to wear a Head Restraint certified under SFI’s 38.1 specification. Neither Sanchez nor Hedlund’s cars were fast enough to require the drivers to wear one. In Charlotte this weekend, four of the classes competing are not required to use a Head and Neck Restraint.
“If you’re above 7.49 seconds, it’s your choice whether to wear a Head Restraint, which I don’t agree with,” said Hedlund. “I’ve always been one who believes everybody should wear one.”
At the IMIS Safety and Technical Conference in December of 2012, Downing presented a study based on the Charlotte Observer’s report “Death at the Track.” The HPP study found that 10 drag racing deaths could have been prevented by the use of SFI Certified Head and Neck Restraints in the years covered by the Observer’s study -- 2001 to 2011. The majority of those drag racing deaths occurred in the Sportsman classes.
The HPP study and the summary of preventable deaths are available at hansdevice.com/s.nl/sc.12/category.60/.f .
Mike Poupart Motorsports
504-472-0400
mikepoupartmotorsports.com/